Russ Meyer's 1976 sex comedy "Up!" is an absurd murder mystery with a signature top-heavy cast. Sporting a group of Meyer regulars (such as Kitten Natividad and Candy Samples) and first-timer Raven De La Croix, "Up!" bares it all and leaves nothing to the imagination.
If the Schlock Vault were to have a gaudy godfather, it would be a toss-up between Russ Meyer and Herschell Gordon Lewis, with Meyer ultimately edging out a victory based on the shear volume of his catalog. Meyer managed to incorporate a rather meager amount of gore in every picture but was best known for his predilection toward bountiful women wearing little more than a smile.
"Up!" succeeds in incorporating quite possibly the largest breasts-per-second ratio I've ever seen. Even given the Russ Meyer guide to filmmaking, "Up!" somehow exceeds its own level of excess. The breasts come early and often betwixt a sea of decrepit male counterparts who ravenously lust after the various female characters. There's a loosely formed plot to be had here somewhere, but a lot of it is quite literally buried by a bevy of double D's.
The movie is hosted by the Greek Chorus (Kitten Natividad), a muse of sorts who doubles as a nude narrator. Moreover, the Greek Chorus helps to hurry along the plot by explaining the various convoluted scenes of sexual exuberance. I suppose "Up!" best resembles a perverse whodunnit. The story tracks an off-camera killer and the bloodstained bosoms left in his/her wake.
One of the most curious supporting characters is a Hitler caricature by the name of Adolf Schwartz. Schwartz is a Nazi survivor with masochistic desires. His repulsive persona is conducive to a swift death. Many of the male characters in the movie possess similarly distasteful qualities and are dealt with thusly. Of course, "Up!" is still a sexploitative romp, so the buxom revenge doesn't come without a price.
Rape, torture and murder are simply par for the course in "Up!" Characters are so thinly veiled that sex is synonymous with death. In both instances, they are forced upon the individual in nearly any given situation. Sex and murder also ensure a shift of power — something of which many of the female characters take full advantage.
Psychoanalytics aside, "Up!" is hellbent on being insanely absurd above all else. The degrading nature of the male characters is merely a catalyst for revenge. Instead of attempting to make sense of it all, it's a lot easier to just give in and run the asylum with the rest of the patients.
Meyer fills a perverse niche that fits right in with everything the Schlock Vault represents. As depraved, degrading and shoddy chicken soup for the schlocky soul. "Up!" is like a live-action "Kama Sutra" set to an Allman Brothers soundtrack — a lesser-known gem in Meyer's lengthy filmography.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYqeGn6rO2Y&w=420&h=315]